Former soldier told her crippling pain caused by swab left inside her body 14 YEARS ago

Former soldier Maureen Deeley, 69, discovered the back pain she endured for years was due to a swab left inside her body in 1996

A former soldier has finally discovered the true cause of her constant crippling back pain - a swab left inside her body by blundering surgeons 14 YEARS ago.

Maureen Deeley, 69, said the source of her agony - caused by an operation back in 1996 - was only uncovered when she went back under the knife three weeks ago.

But she claimed a surgeon damaged her bowel during the second procedure and has now been left unable to eat solid food.

She said it was misdiagnosed as a cyst and removed in a second procedure three weeks ago, when the true cause of her pain was discovered.

But, to compound her problems, Mrs Deeley said her bowel was nicked as surgeons took out the swab leaving her dining on soup every night as she cannot now eat solid food.

'The nurses and doctors dealing with me have been fantastic but everything that has happened to me is frustrating,' said the 69-year-old, who served in the Women's Royal Army Corps.

'I am one of those people who sees any adversity as something you just have to contend with.'

Mrs Deeley, from Birmingham, said her ordeal began when the swab was left inside her body pressing on her spine during an operation at the city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 1996.

As her pain worsened, she said consultants thought the shadow in spinal X-rays was a cyst.

She said the problem was only identified as a piece of swabbing when she decided to have the lump surgically removed at Northfield's Royal Orthopaedic Hospital.

But while fixing the problem, Mrs Deeley said a surgeon nicked her bowel, leaving her unable to eat solid food for the coming months.

'I have been in agony for 14 years thinking something was growing on my spine and all the time it was a piece of surgical equipment,' she said.

Her husband Ray, also 69, added: 'My wife has been on a liquid diet and I take soup to her every night.'

A spokesman for Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Edgbaston, said: 'Due to reasons of patient confidentiality, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust cannot comment on the specifics of the case.

'The Trust has not received a formal complaint from the patient. The Trust will act quickly to investigate thoroughly the care of any patient who lodges a complaint.'

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Former soldier discovers crippling pain caused by swab left inside her body 14 years ago